Joe Schmidt, coach of Europe's leading club side Leinster, last night admitted that he fears Edinburgh's resurgence will put a dent in his side's Pro12 bid.
He identified the Scotland pair of Tim Visser and Greig Laidlaw as the men who will provide the major threat.
The sides meet in Dublin on Saturday with Edinburgh in third place behind Scarlets and Ulster and Leinster one place behind them.
Schmidt acknowledged that, even this early in the campaign, the contest is likely to be a pivotal one. "We were sluggish last weekend in Italy, but at least we managed to claim a very narrow win against Treviso," he said. "But we know we will have to raise our game when Edinburgh come to our place.
"The fact that they reached the Heineken Cup semi-finals last season underlined what a fine team they have become. I believe they have improved further over the past few weeks; they have greater strength in depth throughout their squad. Travelling to Ireland will not be daunting for them. They know how to win away from home, as they proved when they defeated a good Cardiff team earlier in the month.
"There is no doubt they will be in confident mood at the RDS and we are well aware of their many threats.
"You have to pick out Visser and Laidlaw. The former has picked up six tries in three matches, which is a terrific strike- rate, and Greig controls matters very cleverly.
"We regard Edinburgh as a very big challenge and we will certainly need to be more co-ordinated than we were in Treviso."
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